Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
“Ash, where have you been?” Rory whisper-yelled as Aisling rushed to join the bridal party about to head into the restaurant. “You disappeared and have been MIA for fifteen minutes.”
“I got caught up with something.” Like trying to figure out how to stitch a dress she was still wearing so the rip wouldn’t be seen. A safety pin for the win. And strategic hand placements in case it wasn’t such a win.
“What kind of thing would be more important than your brother’s wedding?” Fiona murmured.
Aisling pressed her lips together. “Look, I just bumped into someone and had to do a quick repair.”
“Repair of what?” Rory asked.
She pointed to her side split, which drew a gasp.
“Maybe you should lay off the dessert tonight,” Fiona snarked.
Rude. “Maybe you should make sure you have lots of dessert to sweeten you up.”
Beside her, Declan coughed, and Aisling glanced at him as Fiona rolled her eyes. She caught a twinkle in his eyes and offered a small smile. Yep. The man knew Fiona well enough to understand Aisling’s frustration. Fiona had basically ignored him all day.
Rory’s eyes widened. “What happened to your hair?”
She sighed, pasting on a smile as Colin and Kara glanced her way. “You two having fun?” she called.
“It’s grand,” Colin said, nuzzling Kara’s cheek.
Aww. Aisling blew them a kiss, then murmured to her sisters, “Look, I had a run-in with someone. Like, I literally ran into him and ended up on the ground, which is how I ripped my dress, okay?”
“Who was it?” Aidan frowned. “If you need me to find him to make him apologise I will.”
God bless him. He even seemed to mean it. It was nice to know Rory had a protective boyfriend who cared. “Thanks, but no thanks. He seriously would not stop apologising, so I don’t want to go through that again.”
“Are you okay?” Fiona asked. “Did you hurt yourself?”
Aww, nice to know her sister still possessed a heart. “I’m fine. My ego is a little bruised, but that’s not the important thing right now. The important thing is that Colin and Kara and Mam don’t find out because I don’t want this to spoil their day. Okay?”
“Okay. Now let me help.”
“Fine.”
As Rory fussed with Aisling’s hair, she took a deep breath to settle her nerves. The past half hour had been a little more frantic than she was used to. And given the sweat pouring down her back, she probably should have applied more deodorant. And perfume.
“There.” Rory patted the last of Aisling’s hair into place.
“Thanks. Oh, do you still have my bag?” she murmured to Rory.
Rory passed over the little reticule made of green satin that matched their dresses. She dug out a tiny perfume vial and lipstick then reapplied both. “Better?” she asked Declan.
“You’ll do.”
She nodded, drew in a deep breath, then forced herself to relax. That encounter before had been so weird, and had left her feeling on edge. She really needed to talk to Rory, who had experienced that strange sensation of connecting with Aidan, also courtesy of the Fairall legacy, apparently.
“Now, let’s give it up for the bridal party.”
She hooked one hand through Declan’s, the other hand on the side split which she prayed would hold together. That hand also held her bouquet which might hide the rip a little bit. She and Declan paused for a photo, smiled, then took their place at the table.
Colin and Kara soon entered to cheers and applause, and the festivities continued.
Food, family, friends, music. Kara was a humble soul, with few family members to appease and no bridezilla demands to meet.
So her one request—karaoke—was something that Aisling and Rory had determined to provide, which saw a huge number of seventies and eighties songs get their moment to shine.
Aisling nudged Rory and glanced at where Kara and Colin sang “You’re the One that I Want.” “I think they’re having fun.”
“Right?”
“It’s nice that Kara can sing. She definitely fits into the family.”
Rory leaned closer. “Aidan, for all his good qualities, is not a great singer.”
“Ooh, are you even allowed to say that out loud about Mr. Perfect?” Aisling teased.
“Mr. Perfect is so secure that he knows his limitations. But he’s also so perfect that he won’t let that stop him from having a good time.”
Aisling glanced at where he was talking with Mam and Aunty Aine. “He is a good guy.”
Rory sighed happily. “He’s the best.”
The music continued, Declan getting up to sing something by Guns and Roses, then it was Aisling’s turn to belt out her version of Kylie’s “Lucky.”
She grinned, curtsied at the applause, then passed the microphone to Fiona who refused.
“Oh. Go on.”
“I said no.”
“Ah, we all know you can’t make your sister do something she doesn’t want to do,” Declan said, his mouth twisting as he lifted his drink.
Fiona’s eyes narrowed, then she stood and shifted away. Right on out of the room.
Aisling turned to him. “Why does she dislike you so much?”
“I wish I knew.”
Aww. Poor guy.
The music continued, the noise adding to the reasons why they had booked out the hotel. Too bad if the two guests were still here. She hoped they were far away.
She caught up with more family and friends, then found Rory again. “What’s got you looking so excited? Are you actually going to try the Whitney song?” “I Will Always Love You” had to be one of the best songs ever. And a real accomplishment for anyone who could hit all the notes.
“Oh! That’s actually a good idea. But not what’s got me excited.”
“Then…?”
Rory’s eyes were aglow. “Can you keep a secret?”
Probably not. “I’ll try. What is it? Has Aidan asked you to marry him?”
Rory blinked. “Um, no. But he’s speaking to Mam about it right now, and I really hope he’ll ask me soon.”
“Right now?” She glanced at where Aidan and Mam were talking earnestly. “Mam is smiling, so that has to be a good thing.”
“Right?”
Aisling hugged her. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Thanks. I can’t believe it’s happening.”
Whoa. Her heart dipped. As exciting as this was, it might mean something else that was less exciting. “Does this mean you’ll live in Australia?”
“I haven’t dared think about that yet. But this seeing each other in person only rarely is growing really old.”
Maybe this was her way of finding out the answer to her question. “You’re sure he’s the one?”
“One hundred percent.”
“How did you know?”
“Look, I know a lot of people don’t believe in love at first sight, but it felt like that to me. And maybe now I know a little bit more about what love actually means it wasn’t love so much as instant awareness that this other human was meant to be mine.”
Aisling shivered. She couldn’t put it better herself.
“But you know this. I’ve told you this before. Why are you asking?”
She swallowed. It was one thing to experience it. It was another thing to admit it. “Look, I just had this really weird experience earlier.”
“When you ripped your dress?”
“No, before that.” She explained about the man in the window, who just so happened to be the man she ran into.
“And now I don’t know what to think. I felt this really strange sensation, and yet I’m still annoyed with him for wrecking my dress, and now I’m so confused.
Because I don’t really feel like this can be a real thing if I feel this way. ”
Rory laughed softly. “Come on, you remember me and Aidan at the beginning, and how that took some time for us to sort things out. I think I must have felt much the same as you, not sure what this feeling was, and whether I liked him or loathed him. It was like I was denying my feelings by going to the opposite extreme.”
Aisling nodded. Rory and Aidan’s connection had been super-fast, and there were times when she and Mam and Colin had wondered if it would last. But here they were nearly a year on, and talking forever commitments and things.
So who was to say that love—or at least like—at first sight couldn’t develop into something deep and true and real?
Rory pressed a finger to her chin. “Wait. I remember Mam saying something about that guest and why she let him come, even though we closed off our bookings to everyone else. Now, what was it?”
Her heart thudded in anticipation. “It must’ve been a good reason.”
Rory’s eyes widened. “I remember! Oh.” Her face softened. “He’s the one whose wedding got cancelled, because his bride-to-be ran off with one of his friends just before the wedding.”
Aisling winced. “Ouch.” Poor man.
“Exactly. And they’d already paid for the wedding and the honeymoon, which was all supposed to be here. And because it was such late notice and we couldn’t rebook we could only give them back fifty percent.”
“When was this supposed to happen?” Aisling asked.
“Oh, a year or two ago. Mam and I felt so bad for him. We said he could rebook to stay here himself, and he put it off until this was the last week he could use it. Which just so happened to be the same date that Colin and Kara chose. Mam felt sorry for him and felt like she couldn’t let him miss out again. ”
Fair enough. She rubbed her forehead. So she was enamoured of a man who’d been jilted at the altar? Was that because God had been preserving him for her? She shivered.
Regardless, the news about his history softened her heart, taking away some of the anger and angst from before. Poor man. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like if Kara had stood up Colin. How humiliating that would be.
The emcee announced it was time for more dancing, which saw Rory murmur they should try to squeeze in more karaoke later. Then when Aidan returned and asked Rory to dance, Aisling moved to watch the couples slow dancing, while seated between her mother and aunt. “Colin looks so happy, doesn’t he?”
“They’re a good match,” Mam said.
“Like Rory and Aidan?” she tested.
Mam smiled. “They’re a good match too.”
Ha! Aidan must’ve got Mam’s blessing. Which was no surprise really. He really was practically perfect.
“How about you, Aisling?” Aunt Aine asked. “Any young man on the horizon? You didn’t come with a partner, did you?”
“No.”
“Ah never mind. God has someone special for you.”